I still had some days of holiday left which I had to take in January, so I was looking for an interesting short trip to a European destination. I found a very good offer at TUIfly, from my home airport Stuttgart to Venice for EUR 78.00 return, including all taxes.

As I live very close to Stuttgart Airport I decided to use the late-night check-in. I arrived at Stuttgart Airport shortly before 18:00 on the evening before my flight, and the TUIfly check-in area in Terminal 3 was deserted:

There were only two early morning departures on the next day: VCE and HAJ, so there were only six other passengers apart from me at the check-in desks. TUIfly had reduced their offer from STR shortly before: flights to TXL (with several daily services), ARN and PSA have been discontinued. At 18:00 two check-in agents arrived and all passengers were checked in in no time. I got my boarding pass for seat number 25F in the back of the aircraft:

On the next morning I arrived at Stuttgart Airport by train only shortly before the departure of my flight, passed security check quickly and proceeded directly to gate 331, a bus gate on the first floor of Terminal 3. Boarding started 30 minutes before departure. While the other passengers were boarding the bus I stayed outside and checked the apron for our aircraft. The bus driver approached me; at first I thought he would tell me to board the bus instead of standing outside, but he just wanted to show me which aircraft would fly to VCE. It would be D-AHXJ, a new entry for my log, built and delivered to TUIfly only eight months ago. When all passengers had arrived the bus took us to the parking position of our plane:

I boarded through the rear door. Three flight attendants (2 female, 1 male) welcomed all passengers. Newspapers and magazines were available in the overhead bins near the doors. The cabin is equipped with the typical Recaro-seats. Please also note the “hlx.com” wall at the back that was installed into this aircraft more than a year after HLX had stopped to exist – probably the walls had already been produced in advance (picture was taken on the return flight two days later):

The outside temperature in Stuttgart had been around minus 10 degrees Celsius that night, so it was freezing cold inside the cabin as well. The flight attendants were wearing coats and most passengers, including me, also left their coats on as it didn’t get much warmer before take-off. One of the flight attendants announced “Boarding completed, 65 + 0”, so obviously there were 65 passengers on board which was a load factor of 44%. I had a complete row for myself. Most passengers were German tourists, but there were some Italian families as well, plus a few business travellers of both nations. The safety video was shown in German language with English sub-titles.

We went off-block at 7:15, just in time, and taxied to one of the three open de-icing positions. During de-icing, the captain made a welcome announcement. Like usually on a leisure carrier with many inexperienced travellers, he was very informative. He especially explained the de-icing process in a very detailed way, how it worked, how long it would take and why it was necessary. De-icing:

We taxied to runway 25 where we took off into the clear winter morning with no waiting time.

Fly me to the moon:

Flight time was less than an hour, so they didn’t sell headphones. But the four audio channels were working (I had brought my own headphone to try out): actual charts, oldies, German folk music and a children’s programme. Luckily there were no short movies or advertisements on the screens, just the air-show which I enjoy most when flying:

Food and drinks are sold on the shorter flights of TUIfly (on the longer routes it is free). I had decided to pre-order a breakfast tray for EUR 9.90 which was quite good:

Soon we were reaching the Alps:

The first officer, who was the pilot flying, made another announcement, informed us about our flight route and the weather at Venice that would be fine, sunny and with plus 1 degree Celsius much warmer than at STR.

Lago di Ledro in the Italian Alps:

Lago di Garda:

The flight route:

The lagoon near Venice:

The City of Venice (sorry for the bad quality of the picture due to backlighting):

We touched down on runway 04 and taxied to a parking position on the apron where we were on-block on time. On leaving the aircraft, the cabin crew distributed sweets to the passengers.

Leaving D-AHXJ:

A bus took all passengers to the arrivals facilities. Luggage arrived quickly.

After a turn-around time of 30 minutes, D-AHXJ was on its way back to STR again:

For those of you who are interested, here are a few pictures of Venice in winter as well:

This new bridge designed by Spanish star-architect Calatrava is now the “entrance” into the city centre of Venice:

Two days later it was time to go back. On the way to Venice Airport, TUIfly has placed a large advertisement:

Obviously they want to attract some (more) Italian passengers as well. With Alitalia reducing their capacities to Germany more and more, TUIfly has become an important player on the Germany-Italy Market. Out of VCE, they are serving TXL, HAM, HAJ, CGN and STR.

Check-in opened two hours before departure with only one counter (at least at the beginning). I got my boarding pass for seat number 25A, the same row as on the outbound flight, but this time on the other side. After passing security control I entered the gate area:

I watched the morning traffic through the huge glass front of the terminal building. The TUIfly aircraft arrived from STR on time. It was D-AHXJ again, the same aircraft as two days before. But with only two B 737-700 aircraft based at STR, chances weren’t too small. I proceeded to gate 5, a bus gate on the ground floor. Although seats were pre-assigned, many passengers were already queuing at the gate. The gate agents walked through the crowd of waiting passengers and inspected the boarding cards. Obviously they were looking for a particular passenger. Boarding started 30 minutes before departure with two busses. On the bus, the gate agents came around again and said they were looking for a passenger that had checked in one bag. Later one of the gate agents used the microphone of the bus and announced that they were looking for the passenger with the baggage receipt number 508636. Everybody was checking his / her baggage receipt – it was a bit like a lottery. But unfortunately I didn’t win – my number was 508606 – so one digit was wrong… The passenger they were looking for wasn’t in my bus, but I guess he had to go back for a special luggage inspection. Finally the bus left the terminal and reached the aircraft bound for STR shortly after.

Boarding D-AHXJ once again:

There were again three flight attendants (2 female, 1 male). Music videos were playing during boarding (James Blunt). This time there were 80 passengers on board which was a load factor of 54%. I had a row for myself again. The safety video was shown in German language, this time with Italian sub-titles as there were many Italian passengers on board (no English version).

We went off-block and taxied to runway 04 where we took off in Eastern direction. It was raining outside, so the view was not the best:

Maintenance facilities with a parked former TAM MD-11:

After take-off:

Soon we were up in the clouds, so there were no more views.

I had pre-ordered a breakfast tray again that was similar like on the outbound flight:

The flight attendant asked me if I wanted my croissant hot, but this would take about 10 to 15 minutes and with the short flight time I decided to have it cold. They sold quite a lot on this flight, especially coffee and sandwiches. The passengers behind me even bought some items from the board shop.

When we had already reached German airspace, the female captain made an announcement as well. She informed us about our routing until now which had been from VCE towards INN – MUC and now we were shortly before AGB and would reach STR ahead of schedule.

The view got better over Southern Germany:

A town in the Swabian Mountains (Schwaebische Alb):

Our routing on the monitor:

The station of the town of Plochingen:

The town of Neuhausen:

Farms in the Filder-area:

Final approach: the motorway A8:

We touched down on runway 25 and taxied to a parking position in front of Terminal 3 where we were on-block five minutes ahead of schedule. All passengers left the aircraft through the jet bridge.

D-AHXJ is waiting for its next flight which leads to Italy again, this time to Bari:

Luggage arrived quickly and I took a train home.

Conclusion: Once again I was very happy with my flights on TUIfly. Prices were very good, flights were on time and cabin crews were really friendly and attentive on both flights. Information from the flight deck was very detailed as well. They offer a wide network out of my home airport STR, so I will definitely fly them again.

I´am in desperate need for some flying-out-of-STR report´s .
Therefore great to read your story about Tuifly and VCE.
Venezia looks like stunning with these bright winter sun.
Indeed a good idea to go there.

Quoting Contact Air (Thread starter):It would be D-AHXJ, a new entry for my log, built and delivered to TUIfly only eight months ago.

I enjoy the air-show as well, epecially on short-haul flights, definitely better than "Funniest Home Videos" or other retarded stuff. But then again, I hope that PTVs becoming standart on short-haul flights within Europe! So great that some airlines in North America are offering this since a few years already (DirectTV and XM Sat Radio kick ass)!

Nice to see a winter scenario trip report from STR, with lovely winterly pictures
It was a very enjoyable read, also since there were not too many european reports online lately.
Good to see you score another new registration for your log. Always a pleasure to add something new there!

Quoting FLIEGER67 (Reply 2):Venezia looks like stunning with these bright winter sun.
Indeed a good idea to go there.

For me it's much nicer in winter - the atmosphere is great as there aren't many tourists there.

Quoting Sabena332 (Reply 3):But then again, I hope that PTVs becoming standart on short-haul flights within Europe! So great that some airlines in North America are offering this since a few years already (DirectTV and XM Sat Radio kick ass)!

Yes, that would be great. But I doubt that we will see it in Europe soon.

Quoting Sabena332 (Reply 3):I've been there approximately 20 years ago and it still looks there like it looked 20 years ago.

It probably looks like it looked 200 years ago as well... Well, maybe except the motor boats.

Hi Christoph,
I liked this report a lot. For some reason I like this airline. It's the yellow on their planes, and the B737-700's just look stunning machines. Also the seat design, very modern appearrance, and I tried them once myself, and kinda like the comfort for a European (short) flight.
btw, is Venice much more quiet in wintertime? Or does it still attract lots of tourists?
Thanks for the report. You made a good choice to spend your days off like this

Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7):I liked this report a lot. For some reason I like this airline. It's the yellow on their planes, and the B737-700's just look stunning machines. Also the seat design, very modern appearrance, and I tried them once myself, and kinda like the comfort for a European (short) flight.

I also like TUIfly. They offer a good product on European flights and good value for money. You realize that they want to become a quality carrier again, after their excursion into the low-cost segment with HLX.

Quoting Airbuseric (Reply 7):btw, is Venice much more quiet in wintertime? Or does it still attract lots of tourists?

It is definitely much quieter than in summer. The streets and the boats aren't crowded, although you are not alone, of course. You still hear some English, Japanese, German and other languages in the streets.

That yellow is really cool. It stands out from all those boring "European White" colored planes. I can't stress enough how cool it is that you guys get meals on y our European flights (even if you pay for it), not just a crappy sandwhich you have to pay 5 bucks for. (I know... it's weird, but I LOVE airline food... LOL)

Thanks for the report. Venice looks fantastic by the way. I need to get there one day.

great report with many nice pictures from Venice! The breakfasts are well presented - but almost 10 Euro isn't cheap.

Quoting Contact Air (Thread starter):Please also note the “hlx.com” wall at the back that was installed into this aircraft more than a year after HLX had stopped to exist – probably the walls had already been produced in advance (

Thanks for posting this well-written report with again some nice pics!

Quoting Contact Air (Thread starter):Later one of the gate agents used the microphone of the bus and announced that they were looking for the passenger with the baggage receipt number 508636.

Interesting. Don't they print the passenger name onto the bagtag? And can't they see in the computer whom this baggage receipt number has been assigned to? I can imagine this announcement created a lot of confusion, as passenger usually don't know where to look for their bagtag number.

It isn't cheap, but also not much more expensive than the stuff you get in the airport restaurants.

Quoting PlaneHunter (Reply 14):Please also note the “hlx.com” wall at the back that was installed into this aircraft more than a year after HLX had stopped to exist – probably the walls had already been produced in advance (

Interesting to see that on the newer 73Gs, too.

I was surprised as well. The wall doesn't fit into the actual corporate identity. But on the other hand you only realize it on the second view - and most passengers probably won't notice it at all.

Quoting Ndebele (Reply 15):Interesting. Don't they print the passenger name onto the bagtag? And can't they see in the computer whom this baggage receipt number has been assigned to?

I was wondering about those questions as well. I have no idea why they weren't able to find out the name of the passenger.

Quoting Ndebele (Reply 15):I can imagine this announcement created a lot of confusion, as passenger usually don't know where to look for their bagtag number.

You are right; it did create a lot of confusion. Everybody tried to remember the six digits while searching his / her bags for the luggage receipt.

Quoting Ndebele (Reply 15):As VCE is doing MD-11 cargo conversions, I wouldn't be surprised to see this aircraft flying for UPS or FedEx soon - in case cargo demand rises again soon hopefully.

The new cargo door was already installed, so UPS or FedEx is a good guess.

Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 16):Looks like both were pretty good flighs and not too full, always nice to have the seat next to you free, let alone 3!